Digital Divide

The digital divide is one of the main reasons/excuses for why technology isn’t being implemented into the classroom as much as at could/should be. It is nearly impossible to overcome the gap outside of the classroom including socioeconomic reasons and etc, but such a point makes a teacher’s job that much more important in the effort of trouncing the digital divide in education.

I think it is imperative that I ensure my students have digital access. As a teacher, it is my job to prepare my students for the future. How can I successfully do that without technology? The world is becoming more and more digital everyday, and in order to be successful in today’s society, you need to have a form of digital literacy. The need for digital literacy is only increasing with time, not decreasing. Libraries are turning into Internet spots, e-mails are replacing mail, relationships are formulating cross-country, and text messages are more common than phone calls. With more resources available, and time and distance perishing in the dust, teaching and learning has taken on a new image through technology. Why would I teach my students with outdated materials, limited resources, and insufficient information?

I believe the first step in bridging the digital divide is ensuring that school funds are distributed equally and fairly. This is a very easy and attainable step. I have a first hand experience in seeing the obstacle of the first step. My first Practicum placement was at Howard Bishop Middle School, NOT in the Academy. It was astonishing to see how school funds were allocated. In personal reflection, it was very apparent that the Academy program was the top priority, leaving the rest of the school with “leftovers.” Comparing the demographics of the Academy population to the rest of the schools population revealed an even more troublesome trend: the Academy’s student body was composed significantly with students from higher socioeconomic backgrounds while the non-Academy student body also had a much larger minority population. I feel like such school qualities only further perpetuate the divide.

The next step is demanding digital literacy by educators. This is a little bit more difficult of a step, but one that can be attained. Administrations and school districts should require teachers to acquire necessary technological skills in order to utilize the benefits of technology as a medium in the classroom. The aim of education will forever remain the same: create a civic, educated, and INFORMED generation. Just because technology changes the course of the goal, the aim remains the same regardless.

Unfortunately, the next step is the most difficult to overcome. Not all schools have the sufficient technological resources for teachers to use in the classrooms. I believe that with time, this becomes less of a problem because technology resources are becoming more affordable with developments, however currently that doesn’t matter. This step is a perfect example where teacher leaders are important. Teachers should look for unique ways to overcome the lack of availability. Personally, if I was in a school without computers, TVs, etc, I would work really hard to try and attain such. I could go to garage sales or check eBay. I’d even try contacting manufacturers at the source. You’d be surprise how many “old models” are tossed aside for new and shiny ones. I’d also make sure to schedule a significant amount of computer lab time if possible. I’d even try hooking up with a local library or something similar to create after school programs that could provide Internet and computer access for students. I’d further try to implement a bus program that could arrange for transportation and etc. to and from such programs. Basically, I would try my best to make sure students had access! There are free, cheap, and affordable ways that can help diminish a lot of the issues for the digital gap. The problem is, there are not enough teachers who seek to find them, and too many who just sit on their laurels.

I spent a lot of time researching how other teachers attempt to bridge the digital divide in their classrooms. A lot of the resources I found were on “how” to bridge with implementation strategies and etc, not so much strategies for overcoming technology in terms of accessibility. However, I did find a few creative ideas and attempts for the later. John C. Dvorak is a technology commenter, and although he is not a teacher, he did write about an interesting suggestion for attempting to bridge the digital gap. He suggests the idea for schools to build their own computers from components. Parts from old machines can be salvaged and the students can build new machines inexpensively at the school. “Make it a yearly project for various classes, giving students some understanding of the components and how they work together.” The University of Louisville is the first university to make a real attempt to try and diminish the digital divide. The school joined a statewide program to bring computers to the homes of Kentucky middle schoolers, agreeing to donate its surplus computers to Connect Kentucky's No Child Left Offline project. The effort of the program is to place refurbished computers in the homes of children who have little access to technology. Christopher D. Sessums discusses teacher complacency for the digital divide. He discusses how teachers should take responsibility. Mindanao Teachers and Students Bridge the Digital is an article that discusses efforts that aided reducing the digital gap in Mindanao, as well as suggests ideas for reducing it by “sustainability plans” that are geared towards creating sufficient funds. Barbara Schroeder is a teacher who discusses the lack of Internet access in schools as a source for perpetuating the “digital underclass.” She suggests some Google sites that can overcome the obstacle, but argues for a reform as a whole.

We need people that care enough to embrace change, are passionate enough to put in the extra effort, are creative enough to try new things, and are informed enough to put the best foot forward. We need teacher leaders.

Teacher Leaders

Teacher leadership is where a teacher becomes far more than an educator... they become an active role model in both their classroom and their community. A teacher leader takes action and contributes to the environment around them, not only lending a helping hand to students but to colleagues and neighbors as well. They are “doers,” they see a brighter future and they don’t just stand by waiting for it to happen, they devote themselves to ensure it only gets brighter. Teacher leaders aren’t just teachers who are also school coaches and club sponsors, they are active community members and students themselves, learning and contributing more everyday.

The first resource I read described what a “good teacher” was and how to become one. I thought it was interesting how it stressed that teachers should attend professional development workshops. From personal experience with teachers who aren’t “up-to-date” or who don’t even have the desire to be, I think it is extremely important to continue your professional development: classrooms are changing in demographics, instruction, and resource. The article also focused on expanding out into the community, taking on leadership roles and contributing outside of the classroom. http://www.ed.gov/pubs/TeachersLead/support.html

This resource emphasizes developing teacher leadership skills. It describes the lack of opportunities for upward growth in the teaching world; proposes that there are alternative ways to achieve this upward growth by involvement outside of the classroom. http://www.edutopia.org/teacher-leader

How can we encourage teachers to actually become "teacher leaders"?

The human network basically is how technology has transformed the way people interact with one another. Communication has gone under drastic transformations. Like the Cisco commercial says: “people subscribe to people, not magazines,” “moments are captured and recaptured.” People are able to witness first hand and time and distances no longer provide barriers for people to stay connected with one another. It’s pretty incredible the things we have available for us now. A networked student has the ability to learn by communicating with resources all around them through the avenue of technology. Millions of resources are at our fingertips! Digital literacy is important for the network student because it allows them to utilize all of the technological tools that allow them to “network.” For example, you can’t just open a computer and automatically know how to use Skype. Also, I think digital literacy should include safety and the ability to distinguish what information is appropriate/factual. I can personally say I didn’t know how to determine the contents and legitimacies of websites until I took this course.

All of these technologies and resources have shifted the role of the teacher in the classroom. Teachers are becoming more of “guiders” who lead students on the right track, and sometimes even learn alongside of them. I personally can see myself taking on this role, but I feel like it might take sometime. Students need to be prepared to play their part as a “networked student” as well. A teacher can expand, motivate, monitor, and focus students, but students should become researchers of their own. I think that this shift will someday encompass a majority of classrooms…imagine how much more our society will learn! Learning would be a continuation, not an achievement/assessment.

Here’s a website I found dedicated to network learning.

“Struggling for a metaphor for change”

Connectivism
George Siemens (creator) “Connectivism networked and social learning « Radicalization of Education Reform Struggling for a metaphor for change In a Skype conversation with Tony Karrer last week, our attention turned to change. My weekly elearnspace newsletter/ blog is an eight year running attempt to capture and briefly explore the impact of trends from numerous fields on education and training.”